Motion picture film treating apparatus



Nov. 16, 1937. E B, THOMPSON 2,099,245

MOTION PICTURE FILM TREATING APPARATUS Filed July 2l, 1936 Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Weder/cl 2770/750507 Nov. 16, 1937. F. B. THOMPSON 2,099,245

MOTION PICTURE FILM TREATING APPARATUS Filed July 2l, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet`2 Patented Nov. 16, 1937 PATENT OFFICE Mo'rIoNv PICTURE FILM TREATING- APrARATUs Frederick B. Thompson, Hollywood, Calif.

Application July 21, 1936, Serial No. 91,710

16 Claims. (Cl. 271-23) This invention has to do in a general way with continuous processes for. treating motion picture film and is more particularly related to improvements in film supporting and moving means for conducting the film through an apparatus vin which such a process is carried out. More specifically, my invention is directed to improvements in the lm supporting and carrying apparatus of the general type shown and described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,933,127 entitled Me'thod and apparatus for developing and drying motion picture film which was issued to me on October 31,v 1933. Y

In the apparatus shown in my prior patent above referred to, I employ a series of parallel lm'supporting rollers over which the film hangs in loops which' extend downwardly from opposite sides of the rollers, such loops passing'under and oversets of intermediate rollers so that it travels in opposite directions over the successive lm supporting rollers of the' series. These film supporting rollers are associated with-driven rollers arranged' so; that the alternate rollers of the series are drivenin the same direction, the successive rollers rotating in opposite directions.

4'The entire system of rollers in one treating tank of the apparatus lshown inmy prior patent was supported on'a single shaft and means were provided for lifting the shaft away from the. driving rollers to arrest theirA operation in the event a film should break or the operator for any other reason should Vdesire to stop the operation.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide an apparatus of the general character described in which the successive rollers instead of being mounted: on a common shaft,-are individually supported. It is one important feature attending this construction that such rollers may be individually removed for inspection and repair or replacement without necessitating a complete dismantling ofthe machine.

. f It is another important feature of this inven y spending driving I'oller and in the event such tension or drag is relieved bythe breakage of Y film or otherwise-.the lrn supporting roller is Aautomatically lifted. by the counter-balancing Vmeans away from itsdrivingl roller so that its operationis immediately arrested. This prevents the'accumulationoflm within thetank or drying'chamber which would be occasioned if the rollers `were permitted to operate over any period of'time after the film had broken. This'con-1. struction, therefore, eliminates the necessity of an op-erator constantly watching the-machine and being ready to manually stop the drive or raise the roller unit from contact with the driving rollers in the event lm breakageshouldoccur.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a novel design and construction in a roller and counter-weight mechanism which affords an` extremely compact unit and in which the counterweights are protected from engagement with'passing objects by the film carrying flange on the'lm supporting rollers associated therewith.`

The details in the construction of a preferred form of my invention, together with other objects attending its production will be best understood from the following description of the accompany--` ing drawings which are chosen for illustrative. purposes only and in which- Fig. l is a sectional elevation through a tank or chamber equipped with oner preferred form of film carrying means contemplated by this invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation taken in a plane represented by the line 2-2 of Fig,1; a

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional elevation with parts broken away illustrating'fur- Vther ydetails in the construction of a preferred formV of film supporting Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation taken in a plane yrepresented by the line 4--4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a plan section along the linef55`of Fig. 3; and. f

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation showing a modied construction of the roller and counterbalancing means.

`More particularly describing the invention as herein illustrated, reference numeral Il indicates achamber which may loe/either a developing, washing or fixing tank, or a drying chamber. This chamber contains what I may term a frame member generally indicated byreference numeral |72,`such member comprising end plates I3r which are supported in the chamber by bracket rpieces V'lll and I4', the end plates carrying standards I5,

the lower ends of which in turn support cross members I6. member I 'l is carried at its endsbetween oppositely disposed end plates `I3. A I

The beam member I1 is provided'with a plurality of longitudinally spaced sockets i9 which A longitudinal Abeam orv framev are adapted to receive pins 20 mounted on the lower ends of roller supporting standards 2|. Each of the standards 2| carries what I may term a lm supporting roller, such rollers being generally indicated by reference numerals 22 and 22'.

Extending longitudinally across the frame immediately below the rollers 22-22, etc., I provide a pair of shafts 24 and 25. These shafts in this embodiment of my invention are shown as being supported by bearings 26 in the end plates and the shaft 25 is equipped with a miter gear 2'! keyed thereto, such gear Ybeing in mesh with another gear 28 which is mounted on the lower end of an auxiliary drive shaft 29. The drive shaft 29 is carried by bearings 30 and 3| which are mounted on the end plate and the upper end of the drive shaft is equipped with a miter gear 33 which is driven through the medium of a gear 34 from a main drive shaft 35 eX- tending throughout the length of the unit.

" In this latter connection, it will be understood that a plurality of tanks or chambers equipped with film carrying devices of the character shown herein will generally be employed in a series to constitute a continuous film treating unit and the individual banks of rollers with their associated'mechanism will all be driven from the shaft 35 which in turn is operated from a suitable source of power not shown.

The shafts 24 and 25 are provided with meshing spur gears 24g and 25g so that they are driven in opposite directions. The shaft 25 isV equipped with a plurality of driving rollers 49 and 40 which are keyed thereto and are positioned so as to be engaged by alternate film supporting rollers 22. Keyed to the shaft 24 beneath the film supporting rollers 22 which are between the film supporting rollers 22, I provide additional driving rollers 4| which rotate the roller 22 in a direction opposite to that of the rollers 22. It should be pointed out at this time that my invention also contemplates a device in which the alternate rollers only of the series are driven, in which event the rollers 22' between the driven rollers 22 would merely act as guide supports for the lm and receive their rotation from the lm itself.

Reference numerals 41 .and 41' indicate guide rollers which are mounted on brackets 48 and 46 secured to the upper edge of the brackets or angle members |4. Reference numerals 49 and 56 indicate loop maintaining rollers which are mounted on shafts 5| and 52, such shafts being carried by bearings in the cross members |6. Reference numerals 53 and 54 indicate loop return rollers which are carried on stub shafts 55 and 56 mounted on opposite faces of the longitudinal beam member Il.

In the use of this film driving unit, like that shown and described in my prior patent referred to above, a motion picture film passes over the roller 41 and downwardly beneath the first loop maintaining roller 49. It then passes upwardly in a loop over the rst loop return roller 54 and downwardly over the next loop maintaining roller 49 which is carried by the shaft 5|. In this connection it will be observed from Figs. l and 2 that the film is turned through as it passes from the roller 49 over the roller 54 and isturned back again through 90 as it travels down from the roller 54 to the roller 49.

The roller 49 is in direct alignment with the first lm supporting roller 22 which is being driven in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. l by its driving roller 4|). The film passes upwardly from the roller 49 over the roller 22 and through its frictional engagement with this last mentioned roller is advanced through that part of the roller system. As the lm leaves the roller 22, it is conducted downwardly beneath the first roller 50 on the shaft 52 (see Fig. 2) which is opposite the roller 49' on the shaft 5|. After passing downwardly beneath the rst roller 56, the film passes upwardly over the first loop return roller 53 and down below the next loop maintaining roller on the shaft 52 which is opposite the roller 49a of shaft 5|. The roller 49a Aand the 'loop maintaining roller on the shaft 52 last referred to (as will be observed from Fig. l) are inline with the second nlm supporting roller 22 of the series and the film leaving the second loop maintaining roller on the shaft 52 passes upwardly and over the film supporting rollers 22' over which it is driven in the direction of the arrow on that roller in Fig. 1. From this arrangement it will be seen (Fig. 2) that the film hangs in independent loops on opposite sides of the successive rollers in the series and that film travels in opposite directions over the successive rollers and in the same direction over alternate rollers. This construction and operation is fully described in my prior patent referred to above.

As has been previously pointed out, it is one object of this invention to provide a film carrying unit of the class described in which the lm supporting rollers are independently mounted and can be readily removed for inspection or replacement. This is accomplished by mounting the rollers 22and 22' on individual standards 2|, such standards being carried in the sockets 20. In order to hold the rollers in proper alignment and to prevent the rotation of their supports when they are installed, I consider it preferable to notch the beam member I1 as indicated at 59, such notches receiving the lower ends of the standards 2| as is best illustrated in Fig. 3.

It was also pointed out as an object of this invention to provide means for automatically lifting the film supporting rollers away from their respective drive rollers in the event the tension or dragon the film loop carried by any one of these rollers was relieved by breakage of the film or otherwise. In the preferred embodiment of my invention, shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, this is accomplished by counter-balancing the individual rollers. The details of this counter-balanced construction are best illustrated in Figs. 3 to 5 inclusive and will now be described.

It will be observed that the standard 2| in the region of the center of the roller 22 is provided with an offset portion 66. This offset portion has a pivot pin 6| secured therein, such pivot pin carrying a lever member 62 which is held against longitudinal movement on the pivot pin by means of a screw or pin 63, the inner end of which extends into an annular groove 64 formed on the pin. The inner end of this lever member 62 receives a screw member 65, the rthreaded end of which extends upwardly from the lever into an opening or slot 66 formed in the standard 2| and constitutes a stop for limiting the swinging movement of the lever. The portion 61 of the screw adjacent the head 68 thereof is enlarged and comprises a bearing for the hub portion 69 of the film supporting roller 22. In this form of my invention the roller is shown as having a solid web 10, the periphery of which is equipped with a lm supporting flange 1| which is offset to encompass extending guide`flanges'12 'and 12.

It Will thus be seen that the roller22 is swingablyy supported on the standard through the medium of the lever member 62 and the positions of the pivotal support for the lever and the lower edge of the opening 66, which constitutes the stop for downward movement ofthe lever are such 'as to permit the roller being drawn downwardlyinto engagement Vwith the driven roller by the tension or drag of a iilm F passing over the film supporting roller 22.

. In order 4that' the film supportingroller may be automatically and immediately swung upwardly away from its corresponding' driven roller when the drag or tension on the lm Fis relieved, I provide the end'of the lever member 62 opposite the end which carries the roller 22 with counterbalancing means such as a counter-weight 13, the mass of which is sufficient to lift the roller 22 inthe manner described above when such roller is relieved of the drag or tension from the lm. The counter-weight 13 is shown as being notched as indicated at 14 to t over the end ofthe-lever 62 and is secured thereto through the medium of a screw 15. In this form of my invention the 'i counter-weight 13 serves the additional function yof locking the pin 63 in place since itis made of a width such that it extends over the outer end of the pin or screw member 63."

In the form of Vmy invention shown in Fig. 6, I show a modified constructionfor obtaining the counter-balanced action in the lm supporting roller 22h. .This roller is rotatablymounted disuch spring bearing against theV bottom of the` pin20b. The roller' 22D" is normally held in engage'ment with its corresponding driving roller 401) by the tension on the film T1i" and in the event this tension is relieved in any manner, such as by breakage in the lm, the compression spring 821s effective to lift the pin 2017 and the'roller unit carried thereby soY that the roller 22h Vis ldisengaged from the roller 40h.

It will be understood that other types of construction may be employed in obtaining a counter-balanced roller of the class described above, also that such a film' supporting andk driving roller may be employed in conjunction with other arrangements of' lm vcarrying roller systems. The arrangement described vand/illustrated herein, however, has certain'inherent advantages in that it may be economically manufactured and easily assembled, it has a minimum number of parts and by forming the film supporting roller I `and the counter-balance lever so that ,the iiange of the roller encompasses the Vcounter-balance, I have provided convenient means for protecting thecounter-balance and the lever against inadvertent movement through engagement with outside objects.

It is to be understood that while I have herein described and illustrated one preferred form of my invention, that the invention is not limited to the kprecise construction or arrangement described above, but includes Within its scope what- 'ever changes fairly come iwithin the spirit of the appended claims. v

I claim as my invention:

1. Ina lm treating apparatus, the combination of: aframe; a supporting member in said frame; a plurality of standards individually removably mounted in said supporting member; land a film supporting roller rotatably carried b each of said standards. Y I

2. In a film treating apparatus, the combination of: a-frame; a supporting member in said frame; a plurality of Standards individually removably mounted in said supporting member; a

film supporting roller rotatably carried by each 0f said standards and roller driving means in said rframe beneath some of said iilm supporting rollers adapted to be engaged by the corresponding film supporting rollers for imparting rotation thereto.

3. In a lm treating apparatus, the combina -tion of a frame; a supporting member in said frame; a plurality of standards removably mounted in said supporting member; alm supporting roller rotatably carried by each of said standards; driving rollers in said frame beneath some of said lm supporting rollers, said supporting rollers being normally held in engage- `ment with the corresponding driving rollers by the tension of a iilm passing thereover; and counter-balance means associated with saidsupporting rollers for automatically lifting same out of engagement with the corresponding driving roller'when said film tension'is relieved.

4. In a filmtreating apparatus, the combination of a frame; a plurality of film supporting rollers; means supporting said'rollers in said frame for vertical shifting movement; driving rollers in said frame beneath some of saidilm supporting rollers for rotating lthe lm sup-porting rollers; said iilm supporting rollers being` normally held in engagement with the correspondingdriving roller by the tension of a film passing thereover; and means associated with said film supporting rollers and said roller k,sup-

porting means vfor automatically lifting same out.

of engagement with the corresponding driving rollers when-the film tension is relieved. 5. For use in a lm treating apparatus, a film Ysupporting and driving unit embodying: a frame a standard mounted on said frame for automatically lifting said film sup-portingrollerk away from said driving roller when the lm tension is relieved. t

6. For use ina lm treating apparatus a film supporting and driving unit embodying: a frame member having a socket therein; a standard hav- Ying a lower end portion removably received inV said socket; a lever member Vpivotally mounted on said standard; a lm supporting roller rotatadapted to be engaged thereby under the action of a film carried by the latter roller; `and a counterweight on the other end of said lever member for automatically lifting said film supportingv roller away from said driving roller when the fllm tension is relieved.

7. For use in a film treating app-aratus a film supporting and driving unit embodying: a frame member having a socket therein; a standard having a lower end portion removably received in said socket; means for holding said standard against rotation in said socket; a lever member pivotally mounted on said standard; a film supporting roller rotatably mounted on one end portion of saidlever member; a fiange on the periphery of said roller adapted to support a film; a driving roller positioned beneath said film supporting roller and adapted to be engaged thereby under the action of a film carried by the latter roller; and a counterweight on the other end of said lever member for automatically lifting said film supporting roller away from said driving roller when the film tension is relieved.

8. For use in a film treating apparatus a film supporting and driving unit embodying: a frame member; a standard mounted on said frame member; a lever member pivotally mounted on said standard; a film supporting roller rotatably mounted on one end portiony of said lever member; a flange on the periphery of said roller adapted to support a film; a driving roller positioned beneath said film supporting roller and adapted to be engaged thereby under the action of a film carried by the latter roller; a counter- Weight on the other end of said lever member for automatically lifting said film supporting roller away from said driving roller when the film tension is relieved and stop means associated with said lever and said standard for limiting the swing movement of said lever.

9. For use in a film treating apparatus a film supporting and driving unit embodying: a frame member; a standard mounted on said frame member; a lever member pivotally mounted on said standard; a film supporting roller rotatably mounted on one en-d portion of said lever member; a fiange on the periphery of said roller adapted to support a film; a driving roller positioned beneath said film supporting roller and adapted to be engaged thereby under .the action of a film carried Aby the latter roller; a counter- Weight on the other end of said lever member for automatically lifting said film supporting roller away from said driving roller when the film tension is relieved, the length and width of said lever and counterweight assembly being such that it is encompassed by the flange of said film supporting roller.

10. For use in a film treatingapparatus a film supporting and driving unit embodying: a frame member; a standard vmounted on said frame member; a lever member pivotally mounted on said standard; a bearing pin mounted in one end of said lever member; a roller member having its hub journaled on said bearing pin; a peripheral flange on said roller adapted to support a film, said flange being formed so as to encompass said lever member; a driving .roller beneath said film supporting roller adapted to be engaged thereby under the action of a film on said supportingroller; and a counterweight on the otherend of said leverv for-.liftingsaid film supporting roller away from said driving roller whenl the tension on said film is relieved.

11. In a film treating apparatus, the combination of a frame; a plurality of film supporting rollers; means supporting said rollers in said frame for vertical shifting movement; driving rollers in .said frame beneath" some of said film supporting rollers for .rotating the film supporting rollers; said film supporting rollers being normal- Ily lheld in engagement with the corresponding mally held in engagement with the corresponding driving roller by the tension of a film passing thereover; and yieldable means associated with said film supporting rollers and said roller supporting` means for automatically lifting same out of engagement with the corresponding driving rollers when the film tension is relieved.

13. In a lm treating apparatus, the combination of :.,a frame; a plurality of film supporting rollers; means supporting said rollers in said frame for vertical shifting movement; driving rollers in said frame beneath some of said film supporting rollers for rotating the film supporting rollers; said film supporting rollers being normally held in engagement with the corresponding driving roller by the tension of a film passing thereover; and spring means associated with said Yfilm supporting roller and said roller supporting means for automatically lifting same out of engagement with the corresponding driving rollers when the lm tension is relieved.

14.1 In a film treating apparatus the combination of: a frame; a supporting member in said frame; a supporting standard removably mounted in said supporting member; a film supporting roller rotatably carried by said stan-dard; and a compression spring interposed between said standard and said supporting member for lifting said standard away from said supporting member.

15. In a film treating apparatus the combination of: a frame; a plurality of standards individually removably and resiliently mounted in said supporting member; and a film supporting rollervcarried byeach o-f said standards.

16. In a film treating apparatus, the combination of: a frame; a supporting member in said frame; a plurality of standards individually removably mounted in said supporting member; a film supporting roller carried by each of said standards; and a compression spring interposed between each of said standards and said supporting member.

FREDERICK B. THOMPSON. 

